New Cincy president looking at athletic graduation rates

One week on the job and she's hitting the job hard. I think Zimpher must be a pretty good administrator. Read the Q&A below, she has a few pointed replies to athletics too.

UC president vows vigilance in academics
Zimpher says she'll keep close eye on athletes' graduation rates
By Bill Koch, The Cincinnati Enquirer
October 8, 2003

The University of Cincinnati's new president said Tuesday that she will be "very vigilant" in overseeing the school's athletic program, with an eye toward academic integrity and the off-field behavior of athletes.

"I think there has to be a great deal of leadership and oversight of the collegiate athletic program," Dr. Nancy Zimpher said in a meeting with the Enquirer's editorial board. "I see the athletic director as a leader, the coaches as leaders. I'm a part of that equation. I'll be very interested in academic retention and graduation rates, and I'll also be a fan."

Zimpher, who took over Oct. 1 for Dr. Joseph Steger, was active in athletics as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was instrumental in transforming the Midwestern Collegiate Conference into the Horizon League.

She also has pushed for academic reform in Division I athletics.

"The critical connection we need to make beyond students and the student experience is in academic affairs," Zimpher said. "We have to be looking very carefully at graduation rates."

Zimpher said she will work with UC coaches, academic officers and the officers in student life to make sure athletes have plenty of support, and she said she expects athletes to conduct themselves properly off the field.

"No one wants events to occur that would suggest that our student-athletes are not mature enough to handle both the collegiate experience and the adult living/learning experience that all of our students have to grow into," Zimpher said.

She said she will wait to make her own judgments about UC's athletic program.

"In fairness to the athletic program, I should be a student of exactly what's going on," Zimpher said. "I should observe the leadership. I should get to know the players. I should understand how athletics works at UC before I make any pronouncements about whether there's a big problem or not a big problem. Suffice it to say, I will be paying attention."

While stopping short of endorsing a UC move from Conference USA to the Big East, should an invitation be extended, Zimpher said the benefits of becoming a member of the Big East would extend far beyond athletics, citing the media markets, ability to transport athletes more economically and national visibility as positives offered by the higher-profile conference.

She also said visibility from athletics shines a spotlight on a school's academic program.

"The whole world is watching collegiate athletic reform, and they're not watching the Horizon League," Zimpher said. "They're watching these six big conferences. I welcome that. I think the public scrutiny gives me a lot of ammunition internally."

 

UC president charts new course

Nancy L. Zimpher, president of the University of Cincinnati, met Tuesday with the Enquirer's editorial board. It was her fifth day on the job. The following are excerpts from the interview.

The enitre interview is at UC president charts new course.

Q. What's your philosophy on how athletics fit into the UC picture?
A. I enjoy collegiate athletics and think they have a tremendous role to play in the campus experience. I also think there has to be a great deal of leadership and oversight of a collegiate athletic program. I see the athletic director and coaches as leaders and I am part of that equation. I'll be very interested in academic retention and graduation rates. I'll also be a fan.

Q. Some UC athletes have been arrested for various offenses. Are you concerned about the image of the university when this happens?
A. Nobody wants that kind of thing to happen. The best thing I can say is that I intend to exert the leadership responsibility I've been given and I expect to work in a team with Bob Goin (athletic director) and the coaches and other academic officers and those in student life to give our athletes as much support as other students. No one wants events to occur that indicate our student athletes are not mature enough to handle both the collegiate experience and the adult-living-learning experience that all our students have to grow into. This year, I want to see the athletic program unfold, and have my own take on what's really happening with it. In fairness to the athletic program, I'll be a student of what's going on. I should observe the leadership, get to know the players and understand how athletics work at UC before I make any pronouncements about whether there's a big problem or not. Suffice it to say I will be paying attention.

 

sadly, it appears as if our connection with Cincinnati is over. It was a great 8 years of rivalry, but I can't get fired up about them any more. Hopefully Lutz and Huggy keep scheduling each other OOC, but my will to bash them is diminished since we both appear to be going to other conferences.

 

Can you actually call a rate of 0 a graduation rate? I mean they would have to actually graduate someone to make it that, right?

 

They have basketball player graduates now (unfortunately). The Bearcats had six players to earn C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll awards (maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and participate in a conference-sponsored sport) last spring, Anthony Bobbit, Eric Hicks, Kareem Johnson, Armein Kirkland, Jamaal Lucas and Chad Moore.

Of course, at least two of those have had scrapes with the law, so it remains unclear as to if they will graduate.

 

I guess you hadn't heard the latest about Kirkland. Please let me refresh:

Kirkland's tarnished image scrubbed clean

By Jason Williams
Post staff reporter

Label Armein Kirkland a fighter. But the good-natured University of Cincinnati basketball player isn't the least bit violent.
Kirkland spent the past five weeks fighting for his innocence and his reputation, never wavering in his quest to prove that he is a man of good character, not a man who commits violent acts.

"He told me he wouldn't settle for anything less than a clear dismissal, because he said he was falsely charged," UC athletic director Bob Goin said. "It proved to be good."

Indeed, Kirkland ultimately won the heavyweight bout, when city prosecutors on Tuesday dropped the misdemeanor charges of assault and domestic violence against the UC player, forcing Hamilton County Municipal Court judge Robert Winkler to throw out the case in which Kirkland was accused of attacking his now-former girlfriend.

In a meeting with assistant city solicitor Melanie Reising just before Kirkland was to stand trial before a jury, Ambrea Lacy changed her story from the one that she told police Aug. 2, when she and Kirkland were both arrested on the exact same charges stemming from an incident in a Price Hill apartment. Reising said Lacy, 18, who had originally accused Kirkland of slapping her in the face and grabbing her throat, said Tuesday that Kirkland did not hurt her.

But Kirkland, 19, knows that alone will not immediately restore his reputation.

"I was just worried about how everybody was going to take this," said Kirk-land, a sophomore forward. "I didn't want (the way people thought of him) to be negative because of somebody lying about me. It wasn't accurate to who I am, and my character. If I did it, I would take responsibility for it, but it wasn't true. I can't accept that.

"I'm just glad that somebody can see some people are really innocent. I just hope the public realizes that you can't believe everything you hear, that you're innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent."

UC head coach Bob Huggins knows not everyone sees things that way.

"We're happy that the judicial process has taken its course," Huggins said. "We're happy that we didn't rush to unjust decisions. But it's a shame that a young man's reputation and image are tarnished over a period of time over something that didn't happen."

Kirkland's attorney, Mary Jill Donovan, asked Winkler to expunge all records in the case. Although her request was denied, Winkler said he would consider expungement, and likely grant it, if Kirkland applied for it again in 90 days.

Soon after spending the night of Aug. 2 in jail, Kirkland began his effort to prove he did nothing wrong. The following day, he met with Goin and told the athletic director his side of the story and convinced Goin that he did nothing wrong. Goin did not suspend Kirkland, but placed on him on undisclosed restrictions, which are no longer in effect.

Goin, who in the past has suspended athletes for being charged in violent acts before the judicial process concluded, also believed that Kirkland took the proper steps toward seeking help.

The UC players have been instructed to walk away from a potential volatile situation and call police.

"I did everything right," Kirk-land said. "I made two calls (to police). She was breaking stuff, and I saw the police weren't getting there fast enough so I called again. I was the one bleeding. I had to go to the hospital. There wasn't a mark on her body, not even a cat scratch."

Kirkland accused Lacy of biting his stomach and elbow, and he admitted having to use his hands to fend her off. Kirkland said Lacy took a verbal argument too far. Police said Kirkland and Lacy, both of whom are from Ty-ler, Texas, had been living together for two months. But he said that was false, rather that Lacy had been visiting him for 2½ weeks.

Lacy declined to comment.

Lacy has been given the option to attend counseling, Reising said, and "the state is deciding whether or not to file criminal charges against Miss Lacy -- for making a false statement during an official proceeding." Reising added that, if the state does decide to file charges, it is uncertain whether Lacy will be charged as an adult or a juvenile. (Lacy was 17 when she and Kirkland were arrested.)

Kirkland stood his ground with prosecutors, as well. Donovan said prosecutors had initially offered to drop the charges ifKirkland would agree to attend anger management classes.

"They were trying to get us to plea to something," Donovan said. "Armein absolutely stood firm. Armein refused any plea."

Kirkland said he felt like he not only was fighting for his own reputation, but for the UC program's image, which has taken its share of public-relations hits over the years for some players' run-ins with police. Kirkland said it frustrated him to see or hear things in the media about "another" UC player getting into trouble. When it comes to off-the-court issues, Kirkland said, each case should be viewed separately.

"It just makes us all look bad, it makes the program look bad," said Kirkland, who coaches are expecting to be a key figure on this season's team. "Other players have gotten into trouble in the past, and if they're actually guilty, I guess they have to accept the responsibility. But not everybody does it. You can't go by what everybody else did. Just because we play for the same school, doesn't mean everyone (commits crimes). You've got to give everybody a fair shake."

That is the way Kirkland said he tries to approach everyone he has ever met.

There are things Kirkland has done that validate his ability to relate to people. In high school, he would volunteer each week at the hospital where his mother, Farah, is a nurse. Numerous times, Goin, Huggins and the other UC coaches have complimented Kirkland on his gentlemanly attitude, saying he is open to criticism and never disrespectful.

Additionally, Kirkland was named to the Conference USA commissioner's honor roll after his freshman season, continuing his commitment to achieving in the classroom like he did at Tyler Lee High School. At Lee, Kirk-land was chosen as a member of an academic honors program called the International Baccalaureate Program.

Kirkland is appreciative that so many at UC took notice of his character and helped him through the legal process. He said Goin, the UC coaches and his teammates were supportive. Kirkland's brother, Arrash, who recently moved to Cincinnati to begin medical school at UC, also was a calming influence.

"Armein is a fine young man," Goin said.

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And, for you, TarholeKozel, if you have graduation rate criticisms, please keep them up to date. The 24 guys who have graduated under Huggins. Donald Little has his degree, also, but I put an asterisk by it to give you yokels the benefit of the doubt:

Steve Sanders
BJ Ward
Rod Monroe
Terry Nelson
Mike Reicheneker
Andre Tate
Terrence Davis
Keith LeGree
Keith Starks
Anthony Buford
Jackson Julson
Alex Meacham
Ryan Fletcher
Jeff Scott
Erik Martin
Keith Gregor
Levertis Robinson
Donald Little *
Leonard Stokes
Jimmy Hubbard
Rodney Crawford
Taron Barker
Derek Hollman
Rod Flowers

Have a nice day

 

BJ, How many times are you gonna post that article on Kirkland? No one cares.

One guy gets charges dimissed and you are ready to throw a fucking parade.

 

Not really, PI. No parades. Just that some on here are still having problems getting their facts staight (about Kirkland, anyway), and until they do, I won't stop mentioning it

 

Yes, I'd heard that news BJ. My statement was meant to be that if they got in trouble once, they probably would get in trouble once again.

 

This is a 49er board, we dont really care about the facts surrounding the case of some Bearcat who may or may not have committed a crime. It is not our job to have all the facts straight surrounding the criminals in your program.